Fairy Riders of Pern
by SorellaMuse
Summary: What if ancient Fiorans were the ones who had colonized Pern? Watch the members of Fairy Tail in their lives as Dragon Riders, Harpers, and more, protecting their home from deadly Thread. Will contain GaLe/Gajevy, NaLu, Jerza, Gruvia, RoWen MiraxFreed, Laxana, Bicksanna/Bixanna, ElfEver, (plus more couples in minor doses) as well as dragons, battles, adventures, and more.
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1: Prologue

This has been an idea that I've been chewing on for a while – it was also the idea that finally prompted me to make a FF account, rather than just being anonymous like always. Anyway! This story is going to be a crossover between Fairy Tail (which I love) and the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (which I also love, though I haven't read most of the series outside of the big 6 originals). If you've never read any of them, I would definitely recommend checking out Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon (the 3 that started it all) and Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums (They're just fantastic. Trust me).

Anyway (again), here's a quick little teaser/prologue thing. The next chapter should start the actual story, and have some notes about how the world is being adapted.

*ahem* Enjoy~

* * *

Of all the planets in the solar system, the galaxy, and even the universe, only a select few a habitable, and those few all have some common characteristics. Land masses separated by bodies of water; an atmosphere to contain life; climate and local weather patterns; various types of life forms. Humanity thinks it knows what to expect.

But when they actually end up searching for a new home, what happens when they discover things beyond their understanding, different from anything encountered in their native land of Fiore? Strange, pulsing stars that herald death and destruction; alien thread-like spores that fall from the sky like deadly rain, instantly eating any natural material; and strangest of all, sentient lizards that can jump between points in space with nothing but a mental image, and that form telepathic bonds with certain people – bonds that link the pairs for the purpose of destroying the deadly Thread that threatens to erase all life on the planet.

When confronted with all these things, you could expect society to… change, somewhat. The explorers of the new planet adapt their own beliefs, lifestyles, and even languages and customs in order to prosper on the new planet. This is a story of the descendants of the pioneers, and of the type of culture that has developed.

This is a story of the Dragon Riders of Pern.

Or, as some of them like to call themselves… the Fairy Riders of Pern.


	2. Chapter 2

I've decided to be unoriginal and start with the traditional NaLu meeting like the manga does. So sue me. It's a good way to gradually introduce people and situations and all that. CLUELESS CHARACTERS THAT NEED EVERYTHING TO BE EXPLAINED TO THEM ARE POPULAR WITH WRITERS FOR A REASON K.

Anyway. Here's chapter 2.

* * *

Dark green eyes snap open, a sharp contrast to the salmon colored hair of their owner. The man sits up abruptly, listening for any trace of the sharp sound that had pulled him from dreamland. Unable to hear anything but the sounds of the forest around him, he turns digs his elbow into his former pillow.

"Oi, Salamanth. Get your lazy bronze ass up" the man murmured. The dragon – for that is indeed what he had been sleeping on – lazily opened one eye and yawned, glaring at him balefully.

"You can sleep later. Listen. I heard what sounded like a scream."

The dragon looked at him.

"No, it wasn't a wherry. It was definitely human."

The dragon _looked_ at him again.

The pink haired man scowled and poked the dragon's snout. "I was NOT just dreaming. You know I-" he froze, his ears straining to pick up the phantom sound that had struck again. Slowly, he turned his head back to his dragon, whispering "You heard it to, didn't you." The dragon regarded him for a moment, then dipped his head in assent. The next instant, both males surged to their feet, the dragon shaking the sleep from his limbs while the rider swung onto his dragon's back, sliding his legs into the straps on the saddle and pulling on his flying jacket all in one quick motion. With a mighty thrust of his powerful hind legs, the dragon launched them into sky, cutting through the wind and banking around towards the source of the scream, his rider tucked in firmly behind his neck.

* * *

_Left, right, left, right_. The cloaked figure's feet pounded against the scruffy grass of the plain.

_In, out, in, out_. Her breath dragged in her lungs, starving for oxygen.

_Just keep going._ She could hear the hunters chasing her, catching up to her on their long legged runner beasts. If she didn't get off this flat plain and into the forest soon, she'd be dead.

The trees – and her only hope of safety – were right there. She pushed the last dregs of her energy into her screaming legs, willing herself to go just a little bit faster.

100 feet. She stumbled over her own feet and almost fell. _Get up get up get up._

50. The head huntsman yelled for the pack to go faster.

20. Her head started spinning from exhaustion. _Just hold out a little longer!_

10. _Almost there!_

Pain blossomed in her left leg and an agonized cry tore from her lips as the hunter's arrow found it's mark. She stumbled and pitched forward onto the ground, helpless with only one leg to run on. The hunters whooped and jeered in victory, drawing close to her prone form as she struggled to drag herself to the edge of the heavy woods. Her vision began to blur from blood loss, exhaustion, and despair at the idea of being captured and dragged back to her fate.

Suddenly, a blast of wind knocked the men off their runners, and a thunderous bugling split the air. The men that had been hunting her moments before clapped their hands over their ears and screamed in terror for their lives, scattering in every direction in an effort to evade the massive metallic beast that dropped to the ground in front of her. Immobile and starting to pass out, she watched as a dark figure slid off the dragon's neck and bent down next to her, lifting her with ease.

"Who… are you?" she managed to say.

The figure seemed to grin down at her, dark eyes boring into her own light ones.

"I'm Natsu. I'm taking you to Taela Weyr!"

* * *

Okay. I lied. This is still basically a teaser. At least it's in the right century this time.

Here are some notes about this adaptation. Some are general, some are more specific.

Dragon names: all dragons have names ending in a "th" in the series. I'm keeping that. I've tried my best to come up with good names for dragons (often based on the rider's magic from the original series, sometimes based on their last names) but some are really lame. **So if anyone can think of a really good dragon name for: Laxus, Wakaba, Nab, Ren, Jura, Yuka, Toby, Nichiya, Minerva, Kagura, or any of the Quatro Puppy guys… tell me please. **Otherwise their dragon names are gonna be lame.

Human names: I decided to leave names as they are since only some of them shorten well… like J'Lal or N'Tsu might work, but ones like Sting (S'ng?) or Rogue or Elfman or Ren or Freed … et cetera … really wouldn't work.

The Weyrs I'm using: 2 different FT Weyrs, a Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus crossover Weyr, and a Sabertooth and Quatro Cerberus (plus some Mermaid Heel) crossover Weyr.

General notes: true to the original Dragonriders series, people are a lot less conservative about sex (considering the mating flights and all that), so stuff is going to be moving faster (like GaLe sure as hell isn't going to take 396 chapters to semi kiss)… but also sort of slower. In the Dragonriders books, age and time are considered a little differently: the majority of the characters are in their 20s or 30s rather than teens (F'Lar actually mentions that when he was 19 he was unable to become Weyrleader because everyone in the Weyr considered him to young and immature), and things like dragon growth take a long time (something like 2 years before a queen is ready for a mating flight), so almost all the characters will be older… though I might just make the dragon growth faster since I am impatient… but I really don't know. Not there yet.

Anyway. Thanks for reading. Please review if you have a chance, I want to know what people think!


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3: Awakening

Sensations floated through her slumber, threading their way around the darkness that engulfed her like tendrils of invisible light. Soft murmurs from somewhere around her. Cool, smooth hands on her face. A fresh breeze passed through the room, ruffling her covers and golden hair. She moaned softly, struggling to free herself from the blackness. One voice rose above the rest, like a friendly chime: _'She's waking up!'_

She cracked her eyelids open, almost blinded by the sudden light assaulting them.

Blink once - the brightness began to form into indistinct shapes.

Blink again - silhouettes emerged from the mass of light.

Blink once more – the image before her resolved itself into that of a group of women clustered around her, looking on anxiously. The smallest one, with long, sapphire hued hair, placed a hand on her forehead and spoke, with the same voice she had heard while surfacing, "Are you feeling alright?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but all the passed through here cracked lips was a ragged breath before she was wracked with coughs. Arms wrapped around her shoulders, holding her steady as hands brought a mug of water to her lips. She drank greedily, water dribbling down her chin, trying to wet her parched throat and beat back another bout of coughing. Once she was done, the cup was lowered. She followed the hands back to their owner with her eyes and was surprised to see a girl about her own age, perhaps a bit younger, with wavy hair the color of a clear sky held back by a strip of cloth. She opened her mouth again to speak and managed to force out a hoarse "Where… am I?" The girl smiled at her.

"You're at Taela Weyr. One of our riders brought you in last night with some bad injuries. The idiot made them even worse by taking you_ between_, though I guess he thought that flying straight would take too long. Not that thinking has ever been his strong suit, or really a strength of any of them… complete morons, every one of them-" an annoyed 'ahem' sounded from the person holding her shoulders, and the bluenette flicked her eyes towards the source before continuing, "-well, aside from Jellal of course, but even you have to admit he can be dense as a brick, no matter how much you love him." She took a deep breath and flashed another grin. "Sorry about that. Anyway, my name is Levy, that-" the girl – Levy? - pointed to the smaller bluenette, the one who had asked if she was alright before, as well as a pale girl with white hair tied in a bow "-is Wendy and Charle, and behind you is Erza."

Suddenly released from the grip on her shoulders that had been keeping her still, she turned when the woman behind her, Erza, chuckled.

"While I agree that our riders, bronzes in particular, tend to act before they think, that is an issue for another time. Right now-" the woman turned her sharp gaze to the blonde sitting beside her "-we are here for a different reason. What happened to you?" The rich voice – deep for a woman – came from a formidable looking woman seated cross legged on the bed and was inquisitive, though tinged with slight suspicion.

The blonde gulped nervously. "Ah… I was being chased by a group of hunters. Your, erm – person? Showed up just as they were closing in."

Erza looked her up and down contemplatively, long enough that she began to get nervous that they would pry deeper, and discover her secret, and maybe even make her go back to that awful place. Suddenly the red head sighed. "Look – I know there must be more to the story than you're telling us. But, honestly, it doesn't matter." She stood up and shook out her crumpled clothing, striding towards the door. The blonde followed her every move with her eyes, not trusting herself to speak. "If you wish to stay, and join our Weyr, you may. Everyone here has a story of some kind. Some share their pasts, while others hold their secrets close. It's your own choice"

Erza paused in the doorway. She turned to look at the stunned blonde and cheerful bluenette. "The only thing you need here is a name to call yourself." She smiled softly.

"Who will you be?"

Tears rolled down the blonde's cheeks as she choked out her answer.

"I… I'm Lucy."

The red head smiled, turned and left the room and Levy spun her around to face the remaining three.

"Welcome to Taela, Lu!"

Short chapter.

Thanks for the review and suggestions Joyeu! I like your idea for Jura, I think I'll probably end up using it.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get this story on a regular schedule. Missing usually ends up taking most of my creative energy for writing, plus class work is time consuming, but I'll try my best.

Also be ready for a long haul. I think I'm gonna go crazy with this story.


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